Mid-Week Post

Glorious fall....

Thomas Mulcair defends wearing an identity-squashing garment designed by emotionally-retarded men a niqab during citizenship ceremonies:

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said he supports the current requirement that women show their faces at some point in the citizenship process but that they should not be forced to remove a face covering while taking the oath of citizenship.

"I am in agreement with the existing rule under which anyone seeking citizenship must uncover their face to identify themselves before swearing the oath, in accordance with their religious beliefs," he said during a speech Wednesday in Montreal, adding that he understands some people may see the niqab as a symbol of oppression.

"If some of those women are oppressed, we need to help them, and it's not going to be depriving them of their Canadian citizenship and rights that will do that."

(Sidebar: by letting them wear that ridiculous covering?)

No.

Any Islamic head covering is un-Canadian, a thumb in the eye of the popular culture and a tacit endorsement of a backward, misogynist culture.


Also:

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s remarks about violence against women came under fire online for appearing to blame certain Canadian communities and for not addressing what’s really behind the fact that one in two Canadian women will experience sexual or physical violence in her lifetime.

“Anyone who wants to end violence against women has to look at equality as a root cause,” Anuradha Dugal, director of violence prevention programs for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, tells Yahoo Canada News.

That involves seeing all women as equal partners in employment, relationships, leadership and other arenas of society, Dugal says.

During Monday’s Up for Debate program — which featured Trudeau, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe — Trudeau was asked about why violence against women by younger men persists when other moves towards gender equality have been made.

“I don’t know where exactly to point my finger,” Trudeau said in the videotaped segment. “I think there’s probably an awful lot of factors that come together to shape societal behaviours, whether it’s certain types of music — there’s a lot of misogyny in certain types of music.

“There’s issues around pornography and its prevalence now and its accessibility, which is something I’m really wrapping my head around as a father of kids who are approaching their teen years.

"And there’s also the shifting parental roles; there’s a lot of communities in which fathers are less present than they have been. There’s a need to have more engaged, positive role models.”

(Sidebar: wow. It's like he's cherry-picked wisdom from somewhere.)

 It's fun watching sharks eat sharks.



The court has spoken: life for two convicted would-be VIA Rail bombers:

Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier, the men convicted earlier this year on terrorism charges for plotting to derail a Via passenger train, were both sentenced to life in prison today in a Toronto courtroom.

In passing sentence, Superior Court of Justice Judge Michael Code said the unusual gravity of terrorism offences means he had to send a strong enough message to deter others considering carrying out similar crimes. He said there was little evidence presented that mitigates the presumptive sentence of life in prison.

"These are the most serious of terrorism offences, designed to result in indiscriminate killings of innocent human beings," he said.

"I am satisfied that life imprisonment is the appropriate sentence," the judge added, noting that the men would receive credit for time already spent in custody.

He said both men have not renounced their violent, jihadist ideology and have shown no remorse.

An American commander denies telling soldiers to cover up child abuse in Afghanistan:

The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday he expects U.S. personnel to report to military superiors any allegations of sexual abuse of boys by Afghan forces, after claims that soldiers are being told to 'turn a blind eye'.

The statement from Gen. John Campbell, who heads U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, came in response to reports that Afghan forces who worked with U.S. military personnel sexually assaulted locals boys and that U.S. troops were told to ignore suspicions of abuse because it was not the 'priority of the mission'.

According to the father of Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley Jr, 21 - who was gunned down on Helmland Province in 2012 by a 17-year-old Afghan 'tea boy' for local police chief Sarwar Jan - the alleged 'blind eye policy' was the reason his son was killed.

'As far as the young boys are concerned, the Marines are allowing (the abuse) to happen and so they're guilty by association,' Gregory Buckley Sr told the New York Times.

'They don't know our Marines are sick to their stomachs.' 

Child abuse in Afghanistan is not unheard of, nor is something like this isolated.



Who cares? It's not like she'll be president:

The prospects dimmed for the Keystone XL pipeline ever seeing the light of day, with a significant development Tuesday in the years-long debate over the Canada-to-Texas oil project.

The cause: Hillary Clinton.

Taking a shot at what she called dirty oil, the current frontrunner in most U.S. presidential election polls made the long-awaited announcement about where she stands on the pipeline.

Her verdict: "I oppose it," Clinton told a town-hall-style meeting in Iowa. "I oppose it because I don't think it's in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change."

Pope Francis canonised Saint Juniperro Serra in a Mass held in Washington, DC:

Pope Francis made history Wednesday by performing the first-ever canonization on U.S. soil, of St. Junipero Serra.

St. Serra, a Franciscan missionary from Spain, founded nine Catholic missions in California, most of which would go on to become the centers of major cities in the state.

The trail-blazing life of this priest, Pope Francis said in his homily at the Sept. 23 Mass of Canonization said at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., should be a call to all Christians to never grow complacent, and to always go out to proclaim the Gospel with joy.

“He was the embodiment of ‘a Church which goes forth’, a Church which sets out to bring everywhere the reconciling tenderness of God,” the Pope said.  

Saint Junipero Serra was born in 1713 on the Spanish island of Majorca in the Mediterranean. He left his position as a university professor to become a missionary to the New World, helping to convert to Christianity many of the indigenous community, and teaching them new technologies.

The priest’s mission work often took place despite a painful ulcerated leg which is said to have been caused either by cancer or a spider bite soon after his arrival in Mexico. He died in 1784 at Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Carmelo in what is now the state of California. St. John Paul II beatified Father Serra in 1988.

A pleasant upcoming Chuseok to all y'all.


Speaking of which...

On Sunday, the Blue House announced that President Park Geun-hye is granting all lower-ranking military servicemen two days of leave and “bestowing” special snacks for military personnel on the occasion of Chuseok.

There is no doubt that the nearly 560,000 military servicemen who will get the unprecedented extra holidays will welcome the surprise gift. The holidays are being given in recognition of the efforts of the military servicemen during last month’s heightened inter-Korean military tension, according to the Blue House.

In keeping with the spirit of Chuseok, the presidential office said that Park would be “bestowing” special snacks to all servicemen. This is in addition to the Chuseok food provided by the military. The set of traditional snacks will be distributed along with a card bearing a message from the president. ...

Military servicemen deserve gratitude from the nation for their service. However, such recognition should be made within the established systems and procedures, not through special gifts created at the whim of the president. Such impromptu programs set precedents that successive administrations and presidents may be pressured into following. Special programs may boost popularity, but they come at a cost, ultimately, to the public.

Fair enough. There is no point in sticking it to the taxpayer unless granted.



I thought China was at odds with North Korea:

China has built two high-speed railways along the border with North Korea.

Fast trains can now reach Dandong on the Apnok River near North Korea and Hunchun on the Duman River, the entrance to the North's Rajin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone.

Whatever boondoggle has the potential to pad Chinese wallets, I guess.



Don't leave cheese out for mice:

HalaTrip.com, an online travel platform operated by Singapore-based Crescentrating, said together with the Jeju Tourism Association, it has published a 12-page travel guide on Jejudo Island for Muslim travelers.

Titled “Experience Jeju Island, A Traveler’s Haven,” the guide, which is available in English and can be downloaded from HalaTrip.com, introduces the island’s landscapes, culture and activities.

It also shows Muslim travelers the best places to visit, shop, dine and pray on the Korean Island.

Did the South Koreans forget this?

U.S. soldiers found the body of Kim Sun Il, 33, at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday on the side of a road between Baghdad and Fallujah, the city west of Iraq's capital where Kim was abducted last Thursday. The South Korean Embassy in Baghdad confirmed that the body was Kim's.

Besides, these guys would make horrible tourists. Even refugees are throwing back food.



Um, why wasn't this thought of before?

South Korea is seeking to create a special unit in the Army tasked with destroying North Korea’s nuclear weapons, long-range missiles and other strategic assets should an emergency break out, military officials said Wednesday.

The brigade-level organization will be installed within the Army’s Special Warfare Command, with its primary mission being to “strike the enemy’s core strategic targets,” the command stated in a report submitted to the National Assembly’s defense committee for a parliamentary audit.

“(The plan) is intended for operations in North Korea,” Commander Lt. Gen. Chang Kyung-suk said during the audit at the Army headquarters in the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province.

“Work is underway to transform one of the six brigades forming the special forces into a unit that will run independent operations.”

While operable in the North on its own, the envisioned brigade may engage in joint actions with the U.S. such as for combat service support that requires infiltration tools, Chang noted. 

Israel, South Korea. Israel.



And now, Canada faces some difficult choices this election. Here are some of the candidates voters must choose:

Search your feelings. You know this to be true.   (source)